We are staying at the DL Hotel! And my kids don't even know yet!!

Last month I won a trip to DL for 5 days and 4 nights. The travel agency that partly sponsered the trip told us we would be staying at the Penny Sleeper Inn. We asked if we could upgrade to the DL Hotel and pay the difference. They said no problem, so we are paying only $85/night to stay at the DL Hotel! The best part is we are going to keep it a secret from our kids. They won't know we are staying there until we actually get to the hotel! They are going to be soooo surprised! I just had to share my excitement! Thanks!

Last Christmas we were in northern California with family. Somehow despite all of our relative shuffling, Santa was able to keep track of my kids (5&2) and he brought them a trip to DL and topped it off with a stay at the Disneyland Hotel. It was great fun. (Just a couple months to early for the new attractions though...another reason to go back!!)

I must say the highlight of the park tho was Carlos, the story teller. He and a princess would tell a very exagerated, funny story that kids and adults loved! He is located in the toy shop directly behind the castle. It's also a great place to see the princesses (2 or 3 princesses would rotate during the day.) They also stay afterward for autographs and pictures. If you see Carlos, tell him that Michelle, "The someday moviestar from Houston says, "HI." He is wonderful and made my daughter's trip extra special!!

Surprise trips to DL are a killer, I can't keep my mouth closed! Just keep reminding yourself about the looks on their faces when they realize where they are going. I tried to keep it a secret from my DDs but as my SIL is coming in from Denver and is going with us (this is a girls only trip as my DH can't make it due to work), I couldn't figure out how to explain why she was in town in the middle of the week. I also wanted then to understand a little bit of how much a trip cost, so they are making some finacial sacrifices. One of the things they are giving up is dinner out each week (Friday night is family dinner out night so Mom has to make a sacrifice, too, and actually cook on Friday night, boo hoo! Oh well, if it gets me to DL then I think I will survive). We save what we would spend on dinner and put in a DL fund. This goes for meals and souvenirs. They will each get a portion as spending money of their own to spend any way thay wish.

Back to the surprise, just be quiet and smile a lot and pack after they go to bed the night before you leave. Maybe I will tell my girls that we can't go and then surprise them when their Aunt arrives. Good luck with your surprise.

Thanks for the responses guys!! Unfortunately, though, they already know about the trip itself becuase the DJ at the radio station called my house when I won the trip and left a message on our answering machine, which they heard. That's ok though. The surprise I was referring to was the hotel I chose. They think we are staying at the Penny Sleeper, which is where the travel agency co-sponsering the trip wanted to put us up at. So they will be really surprised to find out we are staying at the DL Hotel with the Neverland Pool! They have always wanted to stay here. Whenever we go to DL we make a point to go to the DL Hotel to eat at Goofy's Kitchen. We also used to eat at the Monorail Cafe, which was a favorite of ours. We were really sad to see it go. They used to love the paddle boats, too. And of course, we always do some of our shopping at the great shops they have there! So they will love being close to all that. Hopefully the next trip we take, either to DL or to WDW, will be a complete surprise...if I can keep my mouth shut!!!